


Dursley/Potter Family Christmas

by Taurwen13



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Cookies, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Family Bonding, Gen, POV Dudley Dursley, Prompt Fic, Redeemed Dudley Dursley, Redemption, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 12:46:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19426279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taurwen13/pseuds/Taurwen13
Summary: Dudley and his family have visited the Potters every Christmas since their twins were born. This year, due to logistical misunderstandings, Ron and Hermione's family have also joined in on the excitement.Follow Dudley as he struggles with his past and worries that the old adage"like father like son" might be inevitable, while still trying to have a Happy Christmas.





	Dursley/Potter Family Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this fic came about from a writing prompt challenge, with an added bonus if we used Dudley as a main character. I chose the prompt "There are at least seventeen ways this could have gone better. Literally. Like I'm counting them right now you moron." and this is the story that flowed out of it. I hope you enjoy it. :)

Dudley hesitated, as he always did. It was the Saturday before Christmas, and, as he had come to do every year since the twins had been born, Dudley was holding what appeared to be a piece of trash. This year, it was a dented, rusty bucket, the year before that it was a broken washing board. They were always delivered by a large, white owl with a note detailing the time he and his family would have to hold on to it. Luca and Daisy were already running outside, followed closely by their mother, Brylee, holding a large bag of presents.

“Hello, love,” she said, kissing him on the check while the twins mock gagged. “Isn’t it nearly time yet?”

“About three more minutes,” Dudley responded. He watched his kids grab the bucket enthusiastically, wishing he had more of their excitement. Brylee reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a slight squeeze before guiding it alongside the twins.

“Three…two…one…YAY!” the twins shouted as their living room began to spin. Dudley grumbled as he felt the dreadful tug around his navel before landing among his family in a heap.

“There you are,” greeted a familiar voice that still gave Dudley mixed emotions to hear.

“Hello Harry. Happy Christmas,” he responded, awkwardly standing there shuffling his feet.

“Happy Christmas Dudley. And to you as well, Brylee.” Harry greeted, taking the hand Brylee offered for a handshake – interactions with Harry came so much easier to here as she came into the family with a clean slate – before bending down to greet Luca and Daisy. “Hello there, you two, have you been good this year?”

Dudley cringed a bit, and half a moment later the look on Harry’s face showed he also registered how that sentence could have been taken. He saw Harry start to open his mouth to say something to him, but wasn’t fast enough.

“Uncle Harry” they screamed in unison, wasting no time tackling him to the ground or peppering him with questions.

“Where’s Aunt Ginny?”

“Did she make my favorite biscuits?”

“Where are James and Albus?”

“And Lily!”

“Can we get on the broomsticks?”

Before Dudley could pull the kids off Harry, a redhead woman popped her head through an open window.

“I’m right here you two, I’ve got your exploding gingersnaps in the oven Daisy, the kids are in the back yard and NO BROOMSTICKS! Now, go have fun, if it’s okay with your parents, while I finish getting dinner ready.”

Brylee nodded at them and after reaching down to squeeze her husband’s hand once more she made her way inside with the bag as the kids ran off towards the backyard, leaving Harry and Dudley alone.

“Sorry about that comment,” Harry apologized, “I didn’t mean anything by it I swear.”

“It’s okay. I may have been an ass to you growing up, but I’m hoping my boy won’t turned out like me. Or Daisy either. They really are good kids.”

A loud pop beside his side made him jump.

“Yeah, you were a right old git.”

“Ron!” chastised both Harry and a girl Dudley was sure he should have recognized.

“Well he was…” Ron began before being pulled away by Harry, leaving a boy and girl staring up at him.

“Sorry about that, I’m Hermione – you looked a bit confused when we showed up so I thought you might have forgotten. We didn’t remember this was the day you were visiting this year. Hugo, Rose, say hello to Harry’s cousin, Dudley.”

“Hello,” chirped the girl. “My name is Rose. Do you like gobstones? I’m getting really good at them.”

“No he doesn’t,” interrupted the boy with a scowl that matched his father’s, “don’t you remember Dad saying Harry’s cousin was a muggle thug?”

“HUGO! That was rude. Go stand by the fireplace until I come get you. Rose, you can go find the others and play.”

“Terribly sorry about that. He’s turning out just like his father, despite everything I do to curb it.” She sighed.

An awkward pause sat between them, that left Dudley way too much time to second guess his earlier comments to Harry, before Hermione cleared her throat and spoke up again. “Let’s head inside, shall we? By the smell of it Gin almost has dinner ready, and I need to find out if we had the wrong date to visit.”

Dudley nodded, a bit stunned by the way things were already playing out this trip, and followed the witch inside.

Wonderful smells, better than anything that had ever come from his mother’s kitchen (and, if he was honest, better than anything Brylee could do, either) were wafting through the air. It was easily his favorite part of their yearly ritual here. While his relationship with food was much healthier since he started boxing, he still appreciated the taste of a good meal.

“Hello Dudley,” Ginny called from the kitchen warmly. “Brylee and I were just catching up a bit. Sorry for not greeting you earlier, it’s been crazy here in the kitchen. Oh! hello Hermione – I saw Hugo and Rose take off for the back yard, but I thought I was seeing things.”

“That boy,” Hermione mumbled, “he was supposed to stay inside until I could talk to him,” shaking her head slowly before continuing. “By the by, did we come on the wrong day? We discuss us coming over on the last day I had off from the Ministry before Christmas officially started, since we tend to all go over to the Burrow for that.”

“Merlin’s Beard we did. I thought you would have tomorrow off though?” Ginny replied, a note of panic detectable in her voice.”

“No, they have me working every day next week, including a bit of Christmas Eve to make up for us being out for so long afterwards. Besides, George barely let Ron off work today. The holidays are their busiest time of year.”

“I think we can make it work. As long as it’s okay with Dudley and Brylee.” Ginny stipulated.

“Sure. I don’t see why not.” Dudley agreed, though he was hoping it sounded much more convincing aloud than it did in his head.

“Thanks. I’ll go tell Harry and Ron. I think I can see them out back with the kids.

“You alright, dear?” Brylee called. Leave it to her to know exactly how he was feeling. He moved over to sit down beside her at the dining table that was pulled halfway into the kitchen to fit. He didn’t answer, just squeezed her hand gently.

“As I was telling Brylee before you came in, I had no idea Hermione and Ron were going to stop by. I’m honestly surprised George would let him off on a Saturday in December,” explained Ginny.

“So, um, what job does he have then?” Dudley inquired awkwardly.

“He helps one of my other brothers run a joke shop.”

“Oh,” Dudley reflexively reached for his mouth.

“I swear that if he even thinks about handing out any of the candies Fred and George dropped for you years ago there will be hell to pay. You don’t have anything to worry about there,” Ginny promised, a note of ice in her voice.

Dudley found it easy to like Ginny. but knew she could be downright scary if angered. James had tried to give Luca something called an acid pop the second Christmas the twins had visited, but that was the only time he had ever seen her enraged.

He finished reminiscing about the same time Harry entered the kitchen. “Ron’s calmed down a bit. He’s playing with the kids right now. Don’t worry, Gin, Hermione is watching him.”

Ginny was holding her wand tensely as Harry finished. “You may want to head out to help her then Harry. Brylee, can you grab Daisy’s biscuits out of the oven to cool? I apparently need to set a few more places at the table.”

Instinctively, Dudley jumped up from the table and backed against the wall as Ginny turned towards him with her wand outstretched. She looked at him funny for a second before melting back into her normal, welcoming demeanor. She muttered a few things under her breath and suddenly various objects lining the dining room shelves tumbled over and formed into chairs before hitting the floor. Dudley noticed that the table seemed to have also grown to accompany it.

“Ginny, are you going to have enough food?” Brylee enquired from the kitchen, holding two pans of deliciously smelling biscuits.

“Oh, that’s no problem dear,” Ginny assured her. “While I can’t make food out of thin air, it is surprisingly simple to stretch what we do have into a few more portions. I’m not concerned about that.” The last bit Dudley could barely hear from his position in the dining room and he was sure Brylee had probably missed it entirely.

“I just need to pull a few more things from the oven,” Ginny continued – though how she had fit so much in there surprised him until he remembered it was probably enchanted, “Dudley, would you be a dear and go tell everyone to find a seat at the table?”

Dudley nodded and tried to moved out of the dining area and through the living room as quick as he could. It seemed like a normal house, but always felt a tad bit off until he intentionally studied it. It was the little things like how the clock didn’t have time but names on the arms pointing to various locations, the pictures that moved ever so slightly like they were trying to stay still but couldn’t quite manage it, some of the books on the bookcase seemed to hum – all things that bothered him ever so slightly. He had almost made it through the living room and was reaching for the sliding glass door when he overheard a few voices talking.

“Seriously Harry, I don’t know why you even let him visit. He was such an arse to you growing up-”

 _That would be Ron_ , Dudley thought, _even without the venom in his voice it would be hard to miss_.

“-and he’s the only one of the Dursleys to even try to build a relationship with me. Every time he visits, we get a little closer, and his kids love spending time here. Brylee is an only child, so these are the only cousins they’ve got.”

Dudley smiled a little when he heard that. _T here was a time not too long ago I thought Harry would never stick up for me._

“Just as long as his kids don’t mess with mine. They’ll have another thing coming if they do.”

“Now Ron,” _that sounds like Hermione…_ “don’t confuse Luca or Daisy for their dad. If nothing else statistically they should turn out much better considering Brylee is much kinder than Petunia ever was.”

_Definitely Hermione._

Dudley slide open the door and cleared his throat. Sure enough, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were leaning against the house beside the door watching the kids play tag in the yard. Harry and Hermione looked a little flustered at seeing them, but Ron let loose a scowl in his direction. Dudley had the sneaking suspicion he was never going to get on his good side.

“Gin sent me to call everyone in to eat. She’s about got everything out of the oven and made more seats at the table.”

“Ginny,” Ron snarled.

“Pardon?” Dudley asked, somewhat confused.

“Ginny, my sister’s name is Ginny. Only family get to call her Gin,” Ron muttered through clenched teeth.

Dudley’s face fell. He had to resist the urge to bolt – but he was effectively stuck there until it was time to leave.

“Ron, drop it. He is family.” Harry insisted, placing his hand on Ron’s shoulder. He didn’t look convinced. “Oi, kids, everyone inside for dinner.”

The din that rushed past where Dudley stood by the open the door was deafening. He could barely tell which kid was where as they moved in mass to the table. Dudley, wanting to get a bit of distance between him and Ron followed closely on their heels. He noticed Harry pull Ginny aside and whisper something to her that seemed to upset her a bit, before joining everyone else at the table.

They were tucking into a veritable feast. Brylee gushed praises on Ginny’s cooking, which made the witch blush as red as her hair. Harry and Hermione began discussing some things from work so Dudley’s attention wandered down towards where the children were sitting at the other end of the table.

Unfortunately for Luca, Hugo had sat down beside him instead of either of Harry’s boys - James and Albus – who seemed to be entrenched in a heated argument over something. Dudley couldn’t make out what Hugo was saying to Luca from where he was at, he Luca didn’t look very happy. His gaze shifted towards where Daisy was sitting. She was flanked by both Rose and Harry’s little girl, Lily. Daisy, like her mum, seemed to be enjoying the added company immensely.

Dudley’s focus snapped back towards the adult end of the table as it registered that he had missed a question.

“Sorry, what was that?” Dudley asked.

“Tsk,” Ron glared. Hermione looked hard at him until he mellowed out his look before turning to speak to Dudley.

“I was asking how the twins are doing in school. They’re about Hugo and Albus’ age, correct?”

“I think so,” Dudley responded, “Daisy is excelling at most subjects, especially mathematics. Luca seems to focus most of his energy into P.E. though.”

“Why, so he can beat up all the neighborhood kids,” Ron muttered under his breath, earning a jab in the ribs from both Ginny and Hermione who were sitting on either side of him.

Before anyone could call him out, Luca jumped up crying from the table and ran towards the back door. Dudley just caught a smirk out of Hugo before tearing off after his son, Ginny and Brylee close on his heels.

It was Ginny that found Luca outside hiding under the low branches of a tall tree and beckoned Dudley and Brylee over. He knelt down so that he was about eye level with his son and saw him desperately trying to wipe away tears before anyone saw. Dudley was familiar with the motion, having seen Luca do it many times before when he was hurting but didn’t want to be seen as such.

“Luca, what’s wrong?” he asked, reaching out towards his son. Brylee placed a hand on his shoulder while he saw Ginny speak a soft incantation while pointing her wand at Luca. It took all his mental fortitude to keep from freaking out, opting against every fiber of his being to trust the witch beside him. A moment later, Luca seemed much calmer.

“Very mild cheering charm,” she whispered to Dudley, pulling back to let them have a moment of peace.

“Everything okay, Luca?” asked Brylee

Luca nodded before turning towards Dudley. “It was Hugo. He was saying the most awful things. Like how his father told him to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn’t hit Rose. He‘s been trying to goad me into it all day. I don’t wanna hurt Rose – I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

The three of them moved out from under the bush and back towards the house with Ginny. Luca’s lip started to quiver again, but not to the point that Ginny seemed to be shaking. She was starting to turn red in anger before taking a calming breath and turned back to them.

“I’ll talk to Hermione. Hopefully she can nip this all in the bud before things get much worse. I’m terribly sorry this is all happening – especially at Christmas. Come inside, dinner was about done anyways and we can start on dessert. Would you like that Luca?” She beamed down at him before leading them back inside.

“Brylee? ‘Mione? Can you two come help me bring the dessert to the table. And Harry, would you mind clearing the table? Just put it all on the side table.”

“Yes, love,” Harry beamed at her as he pulled out his wand while Dudley and Luca took their seats back at the table. Brylee gave him a puzzled look before following the two witches into the kitchen.

Dudley could just make out Ginny waving her wand before all sound stopped coming from the kitchen. Harry was too busy with the food to notice and Rose was showing Ron how much she had cleared from her plate. James and Albus seemed to be calming down a bit but Hugo still had a gloating grin on his face. Dudley was pleased to see that Luca was busy finishing what little bit of roast turkey was left on his plate instead of paying much attention to Hugo.

Ginny led the way with a large Christmas pudding, followed by Brylee carrying two minced pies, and Hermione bringing up the rear with a large platter of exploding gingersnap biscuits. Everything but the biscuits were placed near the head of the table with the adults, while Hermione placed the biscuits at the far end. Dudley noticed she placed it down right by of Hugo and from the way the look on his face changed he was sure Hermione had whispered something to him. No one else seemed to have noticed it though as they were reaching for the desserts.

“Care for some pie, dear?” Brylee asked him, pulling his focus back closer to where he was sitting.

“Yes, please,” he responded, moving his plate closer to her.

“I see you still enjoy your desserts then, Dudley. I’m actually in the sweets business and I’m always looking for new people to test out my new ideas.”

The blood drained from Dudley’s face as he stared down at his plate. “No, I’m good with just this thank you. I’ve actually cut back quite a bit over the years since I started boxing.”

“Pity,” Ron muttered as he went back to his pudding.

The room went quiet and after a moment Dudley noticed the rest of the adults were staring at Ron. Harry opened his mouth as if to say something when the familiar pops and bangs erupted from the children’s side of the table, causing the room to become almost overpoweringly scented with ginger and cloves. The only sound that could be heard in the room above the explosions were the squeals and giggles rising from the kids. Luca and Daisy, being the least accustomed to this sort of thing, were the loudest of all. The joyful sounds of children at Christmastime mellowed out the adults – as well as stopping any chance of ill comments as the dinner ended. Dudley even managed to perk up enough to enjoy a small bit of the pudding Ginny had made without feeling too self-conscious. Things definitely seemed to be perking up.

Once the snaps and cracks began to subside Luca seemed to appear at Dudley’s elbow. “Dad, can we go back out and play with other kids again?” he begged, not showing a hint of sadness in his face anymore.

“As long as you play nice I have no problem. Run along and have fun.” Dudley told him as he pulled him into a small hug.

Needing no more encouragement, all the kids made a mad dash for the back yard. Ron excused himself and followed them, but no one else seemed to feel like getting up.

“I’m sorry about all that, Dudley.” Harry apologized once he left. “I don’t know what’s come over him today.”

“It’s alright, Harry. He’s right, I was a right old git. I can see why he thinks he needs to protect his kids from mine.” Dudley dropped his head into his hands as he spoke, hopefully hiding the fear on his face from everyone else.

“Luca is wonderfully sweet child.” Ginny assured him. “You making the choice to raise your children differently makes more of a difference than you might think. We are seeing it all over Britain’s wizarding communities where our generation is trying to overcome past prejudices and raise our kids alongside one another’s regardless of past tensions. Why, Draco’s son, Scorpius was just over playing with Albus the other day, and Draco treated Harry worse than anyone else at Hogwarts while we were there.”

Dudley recalled hearing about Draco a few times from Harry over the years. He felt bad that even when he was away from Privet Drive Harry was still bullied ruthlessly.

Suddenly, there was an audibly loud crack followed by the loudest screaming Dudley had ever heard, and he instantly knew it was Luca. Everyone ran outside to find the backyard in utter chaos.

Daisy, Rose, and Lily met them at the door, all too hysterical to make any sense. Dudley caught the words “Luca”, “branch”, and “broken”, but couldn’t make out much else. It wasn’t until they made it fully into the backyard and saw the look of horror on Ron and the boys’ faces that he realized how bad this was.

Dudley saw Luca screaming on the ground below the tree he had hidden under earlier in the day, his leg clearly bending where it shouldn’t be, surrounded by broken tree limbs and what appeared to be the remains of a broomstick. Ginny ran to his side pulling her wand as she went, with Brylee close behind. Dudley just stood there in shock. He was having a hard time processing the fact that his son, who had just a moment ago been getting a hug from him, was now laying on the ground in agonizing pain.

Harry put his hand on Dudley’s shoulder. “It will be fine. Ginny’s an excellent healer. She fixed up so many of her teammates when she was a professional Quidditch player that it comes naturally to her now.”

Even before Harry had finished comforting him, Dudley saw Luca’s leg begin to move back into place and his screaming subsided. Ginny finished and gave him a quick peck on his forehead before turning around to face the rest of the group. The look of rage on her face caused Dudley had to take a step back despite it being aimed at someone else. She stomped over to her brother and slapped him across the face.

“What. Happened.” she demanded of him.

“Th-the boys wanted to play Quidditch and when Luca couldn’t get up off the ground Hugo suggested climbing up the tree to give him a head start and I didn’t see a problem with it.”

“You let a child – with zero magical ability to focus through a broom – climb a tree and jump off the top of it.”

“I didn’t know a Muggle couldn’t use a broom – I don’t exactly deal with them!”

“This was supposed to be the one time of the year that Dudley and his family get to spend with us and not only did you ruin it, you almost killed Luca. There are at least seventeen ways this could have gone better. Literally. Like, I’m counting them right now you moron.”

Ron snarled but didn’t directly reply. He grabbed Hugo and started walking towards the front yard. “Come on ‘Mione, grab Rose and let’s go. Never thought I would see the day when my best friend and my sister treat a bully and his family better than his own mate and kin. I didn’t want my kids playing with them anyways.”

“Excuse me?” Brylee exclaimed, moving between Ron and his destination. “I’m sorry, but from where I am standing it has been you and your son doing nothing but bullying my family from the moment you arrived. Not only has he been picked on and harassed my child until he broke down crying, you almost killed him. You BOTH will apologize before you leave.”

Dudley was never more in love with his wife than he was at that moment. He almost started to clap until he noticed Ron had pulled out his wand.

“EXPELLIARMUS!” yelled Harry, Ginny, and Hermione in unison. Ron’s wand flew through the air towards them while his body was propelled opposite them through the air. Ron narrowly missed knocking Hugo to the ground and the young boy began to whimper as he raced over to Hermione’s side.

“I’m sorry I was mean, and that I hurt Luca. Mum, can we go home now? I don’t feel like playing anymore.”

Hermione smiled warmly. “I think that might be for the best. Brylee, would you mind terribly if I remove my husband without that apology? I can make sure he sends you one later by owl or something.”

Brylee nodded and headed back to hold Dudley’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly as she did.

“Rose, do you want to play longer with Lily and Daisy? You could spend the night with Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry if you want to stay.”

“No. I wanna come home now. I miss Crookshanks.” Rose stated matter-of-factly in a way only a small child could.

“Alright then loves, let’s go. It was good to see you, even if things did turn out poorly,” Hermione hugged Brylee and to his shock shook Dudley’s hand before pulling out her wand and muttered something Dudley could not hear. Ron’s body lifted off the ground and followed them towards the front yard shortly before he heard a loud crack.

It didn’t take long for the remaining kids to start an enthusiastic game of what looked like gnome tossing. Dudley was a bit baffled at first, still trying to mentally process everything that had just happened on top of trying to figure out what was going on in front of him.

“Don’t worry, Dudley,” Harry reassured him, "believe it or not they are helping us by temporarily removing a pest from our garden. I promise the little vermin aren’t actually being hurt. It confused me the first time I saw it, too, but it can be fun at their age.”

Ginny gestured towards the patio furniture. “If you all would like to sit down over there I can make us a spot of tea while we watch the children play. Tea is always the best thing if you’re upset.”

Dudley was thankful for the chance to collapse in a chair and after observing how Luca was playing with the other kids, he started to calm down a bit more. Ginny had done a wonderful job patching him up and now Harry was examining the damage to both the tree and the broom.

“Ron owes us a new Cleansweep 16,” he told Ginny when she reappeared with a tea tray. “There’s no saving it, and it is the least he can do at this point.”

Ginny hushed him and began passing out teacups. The warmth radiating off the cup along with the full feeling lingering from dinner almost put him to sleep. As such he barely bothered with the tray of turkey sandwiches Ginny had brought out sometime around teatime or so. The children were content to play happily in the yard until the shadows began to grow long and the light fade away.

“Alright kids, it’s getting colder and I think it’s time to go in,” Harry informed them, “it’s nearly time for Luca and Daisy to go home and we still need to do presents.”

At the sound of presents five sets of feet swiftly moved to the living room. The adults moved a bit slower but weren’t beat by too much arriving there. Dudley watched Harry point his wand at the fireplace and soon a very festive, cheery little fire was burning in the hearth. Ginny began passing out presents, beginning like always with the four lumpy packages they received every year.

“Ooo! What color is my sweater this year Aunt Ginny!?!?” Daisy exclaimed excitedly. Dudley could hear chuckles coming from all around the room and was surprised a bit when he found himself laughing a little.

“Open it and see little one,” Ginny managed to get out in between giggles, “I had fun this year with these – I think I might be getting much closer to Mum’s skill level.”

“These are fantastic Ginny!” Brylee exclaimed, throwing on an emerald green sweater with a light blue B on the chest. “It fits perfectly and is so cozy.”

Daisy squealed as she ripped the wrapping off hers. “It’s PINK! And PURPLE! And look Mum! – there’s a unicorn head on the chest!”

Dudley looked over towards Luca, who seemed to be having a bit of trouble getting his opened. Once he managed to remove the paper and opened it up, Dudley noticed his son’s face beam. He hugged the sweater before turning it around for all to see.

“Aunt Ginny made me a sweater with a dragon head on it! And it’s red and blue – my favorite colors! Thank you!” Luca gushed, slightly muffled in his attempts to pull the sweater over his head while he was talking.

“Aren’t you going to open yours, dear?” Brylee nudged Dudley, who had been so caught up in watching his family open theirs that he had forgotten the one on his lap. Slowly pulling off the paper revealed a maroon and orange sweater with a D emblazoned on the chest. He held it gingerly in his fingers, unable to respond.

“Did we get the colors right, Dudley?” Harry asked after a moment, a note of concern in his voice.

“Um, yes – yes, you did. Thank you. This really means a lot to me.” Dudley genuinely smiled as he spoke. He thought Harry, of all people, would have avoided any and all things that could remind him of their lives together at number 4 Privet Drive. To ask Ginny to make him a sweater in the colors of his beloved Smeltings – it really gave Dudley hope that Harry truly did see a change in him. He looked over towards Harry and saw him smiling back. It still looked a bit weird to see that expression on his face, but he was adjusting to it.

The rest of the evening went about as well as one would expect gift giving to go with young children. Brylee and Dudley had tried to get things that wouldn’t be too odd for a wizarding family, and he could tell Ginny and Harry tried to do the reverse for Luca and Daisy. James and Albus had both received remote control race cars, and Lily seemed much happier getting her extensive painting set than Harry or Ginny seemed to be at her having it.

Luca was unwrapping a box that Ron had, sent along with his apology, somehow through the fireplace while they were opening gifts. It was labeled “Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes” and Dudley began to freak out until Ginny assured him that it was just glow-in-the-dark bubblegum and perfectly safe. Their gifts from Harry and Ginny were also well received – Luca got a new skateboard complete with a helmet and other safety gear, and Daisy was quite content with the grown-up looking tea set she opened. She had even jumped up and ran to hug a slightly confused Ginny, despite Dudley knowing full well that Harry had gone to a non-magical shop to by them. He mouthed a quick “thank you” in his direction and was given another smile in return.

The adults were a bit more boring when it came to presents. They had realized a couple of Christmases ago that tea was very universal in both their worlds, and so they had begun a tradition of trading some of their favorites. Dudley had noticed an additional container of tea with a bright pink bow on it from Ginny that he assumed was for Daisy’s tea set.

The little time left before their return home was filled with the girls playing tea, Luca showing James and Albus how to race their cars, and the adults silently watching on while sipping a final cup of tea.

“It’s nearly time to leave, loves,” Brylee announced. Annoyed moans grew from all over the living room before Luca and Daisy made their goodbyes.

“ ’Bye! See you next year!” Daisy exclaimed as she moved towards Brylee.

“Can’t we come back sooner?” begged Luca.

“Yeah, I’ll miss playing with Luca and Daisy,” announced Albus.

“We will see,” Harry declared, ruffling Albus’ hair. “It’s hard enough getting the DMT office to let me get Portkeys for Christmas each year, but I’ll see what I can do. That is, if it is okay with Uncle Dudley.”

“We can work something out. Maybe you could come visit us,” Dudley promised, causing all of the Potter children to swarm his legs in a hug.

“Thank you, Uncle Dudley!” “I can’t wait” “Yay, I get to see where Daisy lives!” exclaimed James, Albus, and Lily at the same time.

“We’ll be in touch,” assured Ginny, kissing Brylee on the check as they moved out of the house, gift bag repacked with all that they were bringing home.

Brylee, Luca and Daisy all picked back up the dented, rusty bucket from earlier, while Dudley hesitated. He turned around and thrust his hand towards Harry, who shook it firmly.

“Happy Christmas, Dudley.”

“Happy Christmas, Harry.”

“Dad, come on!” squealed Daisy.

Dudley moved quickly towards the bucket and barely had time to grip it before feeling the momentary unpleasant lurch in his stomach before landing safely outside of their home.

“Alright you two, off to bed.” Brylee told them, giving them an encouraging nudge forward.

“Aww, do we have to?” Luca begrudgingly moaned, though compliantly walking towards his room.

Soon teeth were brushed, nightgowns adorned, nightlights lit, and foreheads kissed, signaling the end of a day like any other day would end. As Dudley crawled into bed and turned off the light, he let his mind gloss over the events of the day.

“That could have gone better, but I think ended well.” Brylee reflected before placing a kiss on his cheek.

Dudley smiled sleepily, fighting a yawn before he could answer. “Yeah. I think I might actually be looking forward to next year for once.”


End file.
